12 useful tips for customer loyalty

Customer loyalty makes doing business easy. Yet companies find it difficult. In this article you will find 12 customer loyalty tips for companies.

Do you know that question: To what extent would you recommend us to your friends or family? You can then give a rating: from 0-10. That figure tells the company whether you are a criticaster (0-6), passively satisfied (7-8) or one promoter (9-10). And the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of critics give the so-called Net Promoter Score. In other words: customer satisfaction. Now a lot can be said about this measurement method, but it works fine as an indication of customer loyalty.

The Net Promoter Score question at Coolblue, after purchasing my LG Optimus G

The thank you text after entering a 9 for the Net Promoter Score

Customer loyalty ... why again?

Loyal customers generate more profit. It simply costs more money to attract a new customer than to keep an existing customer satisfied. Funny that not every company still knows: if consumer you can save many euros by making a call every year to your internet provider, your energy supplier and all your subscriptions. You simply state that you are considering switching and voila: you get the discount that a new customer would receive without asking.

12 customer loyalty tips

In four simple blocks you will find 12 handy tips to keep customers connected to you. Remember these headers!

Know your customers

1. Who is your customer? What are his wishes and buying behavior? Talk to your client. Listen to any complaints and challenges. That is how you get to the heart of his problem and only then can you add real value.
2. Ask what your customer wants. Which treatment do they appreciate? How do they want to do business? Respond to this: give them choices.
3. Make an inventory of your client's status regularly: have they grown? More income? Other phase of life? And then immediately consider: what does that mean for your relationship?

Regular customers always have a parking space here

Make doing business easy

4. They are customers of yours, they are not advertisers. If they call: show them. Give extra service or a small discount.
5. Offers solutions and not products. You have a relationship. Organize efficiently what you need to arrange for your customer. Do what you promise. Surprise within the expectation pattern. Make your customer proud to have such a good supplier!
6. Don't keep them waiting. Call back immediately. Answer that email immediately. It is trade! Make sure your employees understand that too. And especially if it concerns a complaint: always take that customer seriously. Even if you think the customer is cheating ... there will always be something going on that you can do something about.
7. Look at the buying process. Make that as simple as possible. Avoid mandatory fields, forms and other information that you already have from your customers. Help your customers get started quickly. And give the option to save orders.

All e-mails I received from CoolBlue after my order: I was informed about every step

Appreciate your customers

8. Thank your customer for the first order. By e-mail and if possible also by mail.
9. In every contact. "Sorry for the wait", "thanks for your order". Be polite and respectful. Every contact leaves an impression.
10. Reward your customers. An existing customer is more valuable than a new customer. Loyalty works both ways: what is the customer worth to you?

Stay in the picture with your customers

11. Keep in touch. But in the way that your customer appreciates: a periodic interview, a newsletter, a call or a personal e-mail. Or choose automated emails, but make sure you keep the contact positive and not nagging. Give different ways so that the customer chooses how he keeps in touch.
12. Always be relevant. If you make a statement, you must of course have something interesting to report.

Make a distinction in your customers

Also make a good separation between what a customer delivers and what you do for him. You can do this by segmenting customers and approaching them separately through various communication channels. Determine the desired service level. In this way you ensure that you do not commit yourself to the wrong customers.

Source illustration Valued Customer Parking: Bill Stilwell